CALGARY – Sheldon Souray sat at his stall in the Ducks locker room and put out into the air an underlying feeling that is enveloping his struggling team.

"We have to get in the mindset that our playoffs have started," Souray said after a 3-1 loss to the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Friday, the Ducks' fourth straight defeat. "Get our games sharpened up and dialed in.

"The way we're playing right now, we're not going to be playing long."

The Ducks (27-11-6) do have their playoff ticket but they're not making a convincing argument that a Stanley Cup run is in the works. An 0-3-1 mark in the last four games amazingly has kept open a Pacific Division title race that should be clinched by now.

Against the lowly Flames, the Ducks never led and got only a goal from Corey Perry with 3:41 remaining that closed the score to 2-1. But that was it as Calgary's Roman Cervenka wrapped it up with an empty-net goal.

A sudden inability to score goals has infected the Ducks, who have just five during the losing streak and are averaging fewer than two over their past 15 games.

"They don't have a lot of confidence right now," Coach Bruce Boudreau said. "Obviously every game we get one goal. You're not going to win a lot of games scoring one goal. But you've got to work to score the goals.

"In this league, they don't just give you goals. You've got to work to score goals."

Roman Horak broke the ice in the second with a rebound goal against Ducks netminder Jonas Hiller. Flames enforcer Brian McGrattan got by both Souray and Francois Beauchemin to score on an odd-man rush.

User Agreement

Keep it civil and stay on topic. No profanity, vulgarity, racial
slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about
tragedies will be blocked. By posting your comment, you agree to
allow Orange County Register Communications, Inc. the right to
republish your name and comment in additional Register publications
without any notification or payment.